How to Define an Hierarchy Structure in SAP DP - Brightwork Research & Analysis

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Executive Summary

A hierarchical structure can be set up in SAP DP.
There are essential differences between hierarchy structures, extended hierarchy structures, and schema hierarchy structures.

Introduction to Aggregate Planning

Aggregate planning is a method of managing hierarchies. You will learn how aggregate planning is performed in DP.

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What Is Their Purpose?

This is simply a way of activating or making relevant the various forms of hierarchies set up to Define the Hierarchy Structure and are available within SCM. These hierarchies are created here:

This configuration is found under the IMG.

“Hier PlantPr.: The planning product is a type of product group (that is, a grouping of products that are preplanned on a joint basis. These may be products of similar properties, for example, or end products that load the same capacities.)

HStr. BOD: (Enter here the name of the location hierarchy structure that you wish to use as the hierarchy structure for bills of distribution and save your input. All hierarchies that build on the hierarchy structure entered here can be used as BODs.)

HStr. RegPatt: (Enter here the name of the hierarchy structure for a product hierarchy. You can use all hierarchies that build on the hierarchy structure entered here in transportation lanes.) – SAP Help

ProdHS. TrLanes: Choose the product hierarchy that you want to use for the processes of SAP Apparel and Footwear (AFS). This product hierarchy serves to represent AFS materials with their variants resulting from the material matrix.)

Prod Hier. AFS: (Choose the location product hierarchy that you want to use for the processes of SAP Apparel and Footwear (AFS). This location product hierarchy serves to represent AFS material/plant combinations with the variants resulting from the material matrix. When you transfer an AFS material with its variants from the ERP system via Core Interface (CIF), the SCM system creates the material and the variants as location products – the material as header location product and the variants as sublocation products of the location product hierarchy specified here.)

LocProdHier AFS: Choose the hierarchy for production data structures (PDSs) that you want to use for the processes of SAP Apparel and Footwear (AFS).” – SAP Help

Where Are They Added?

They are added to the Product Location Master here.

Although strangely, there is no drop down on this field.

How Do They Work?

In principle, hierarchy structures, extended hierarchy structures, and schema hierarchy structures are similar, but they are maintained differently. Hierarchy structures are independent, schema hierarchy structures are maintained concerning an object, and generated hierarchy structures are based on a hierarchy or schema hierarchy structure.

Hierarchy structures are a prerequisite for defining hierarchies in the Master Data menu.

Different tables are assigned to different types of hierarchies:

/SAPAPO/RELDHMAT – Product
/SAPAPO/RELDHLOC – Location
/SAPAPO/RELGHML – Location product
/SAPAPO/RELDHRES – Resource
/SAPAPO/RELDHPPM – Production process model (PPM)

Generated hierarchy structure for location products. A product hierarchy is combined with a location hierarchy in each case.

“Product hierarchy: Product group (A); product (B)
Location hierarchy: Country (1); region (2); city (3))” – SAP Help

One selected shows all the existing hierarchies.

Then we select to create a new item or Hierarchy.

The fields:

HierStrText: Simple text field
Hier. Str Name: The “structure,” but a strange field, as it sounds like the actual item (we are creating) – so it seems circular
Object Type: A simple selection of the object type (options are product, location, product-location, PPM, PDS, transportation zone)

Hier Str Cat.: Unsure as to what this field means. Description in SAP does not explain.
Edge Table Name: Where the node is stored
Spec.HierMaint.: Used for performing a business task

We then fill in all the necessary fields.

However, we have repeated problems creating a new object.

(We get the following error and cannot proceed).No matter what name I choose, it accepts none of them. Even when I am simply copying over an old Hierarchy Structure to a new one, but with a name change.